Atheism v. Christianity: A Match You Won’t See in the Playoffs

What’s more, a 2011 survey by the Public Research Institute found that 67 percent of Americans are “somewhat uncomfortable” with an atheist president and 48 percent are “very uncomfortable” with a nonbeliever in the Oval Office. The survey also revealed that Americans actually would prefer a Muslim president over an atheist one. In a country largely known for its manifest antipathy toward Muslims, one can hardly imagine the amount of hostility harbored for those who don’t believe in any god at all.

The Christian Majority: An Atheist’s Formidable Foe?

Nevertheless, we live in a country where 77% of the population consider themselves Christian, where the religion’s more ardent followers have never been more vocal—or for that matter, manipulative—regarding that staggering majority.

In between the many gaffes that have defined his torpid run for president, Rick Perry vowed to end Obama’s nonexistent “war on religion.” Trying her hand at resonating with the Christian majority, Michele Bachmann claimed that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. And as many projected, former nobody Rick Santorum’s radical appeal to the Evangelical Right resulted in his tiny 8-vote loss in the Iowa caucuses.

As such, it should be no surprise that atheists have assumed the role of benchwarmers in the political process: in an era of fanatical faith-based postulates regarding evolution, global warming, and sexuality, secularists are increasingly marginalized.

Tim Tebow Takes Jesus and Criticism to the Field

One of the best places to witness this conflicting relationship is, oddly enough, on the football field. Despite receiving a Heisman trophy and winning two national championships, Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is known for two things: his unconventional throwing style and his uncanny knack for simultaneously alienating and inspiring fans of the sport.

Despite his many critics, Tebow manages to resonate with that 77% majority: he’s founded an orphanage in the Philippines. He co-wrote the top-selling religious book of 2011, “Through My Eyes.” His surname is now a verb. And in one unofficial survey, Tebow came in second to the Pope in terms of religious influence.

If that’s not enough to prove his sweeping impact on the religious and sports scene, some of the more desperate GOP presidential candidates like Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann have likened themselves to Tebow in hopes of garnering some kind of pop cultural relevance. But we all know how that turned out.